Minister Lake fended off recall for free

Environment Minister Terry Lake fought off recall in the Kamloops constituency he represents without spending a cent.

"For me the best way to defend myself was to continue to do a good job for the people of Kamloops-North Thompson and the people of British Columbia," he said.

His three-page recall financial report says the campaign to defend him collected no money and didn't spend any.

The report filed under the name of Chad Moats shows the people trying to unseat Lake collected $9,550, of which they spent all but $49.

The campaign received $4,200 from the group Fight HST and $3,000 from the public sector union CUPE B.C..

Among the expenses listed on the form was $889 to cover the HST on campaign purchases.

"It's no surprise to anybody that the NDP certainly was supporting recall campaigns, I know they were in my riding, and so I'm not surprised that CUPE had donated some money," said Lake. "I'm happy we didn't have to spend any to refute the campaign and be successful."

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.